Most people have no clue what a hospital charges for various medical procedures, but under a Trump administration order that requires pricing to be placed online there is at least some guidance available.

The rule went into effect Jan. 1 and appears like a long a spreadsheet, with procedures accompanied by standard charges that range up and down the scale in the thousands of dollars.

The Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services reported the posting of medical costs is part of the president’s call for transparency in health care.

At Cullman Regional, anyone wanting to view the charges can visit cullmanregional.com, click on Patient Care and then Financial Services. Like at other hospitals, hundreds of different medical services are listed.

Just a sample on Cullman Regional’s listing includes Neurological Eye Disorders, $21,148.37; Mouyh Procedures W CC/MCC, $15,151.96; Pleural Effusion W MCC, $41,843.52; and on and on.

“The intent of the rule is good. It’s a basic guideline of average charges, but it can cause confusion because it doesn’t figure in what someone’s insurance will pay, because they come in different levels. And it also doesn’t address if someone doesn’t have insurance,” said Lindsey Dossey, vice president of market at Cullman Regional.

As a non-profit hospital, Cullman Regional has a charity care fund to help patients without insurance. The cost to the hospital, which has reported strong financial condition in recent years, is about $8 million annually.

The financial services staff at Cullman Regional also works with patients to determine costs through insurance providers, as well.

“We have financial counselors who will sit down with patients and their families to show actual cost,” Dossey said. “That’s going to be based on what the insurance agrees to pay through negotiation, which has been common all along. You just don’t know until that is resolved.”

Hospitals will have options, however, to take the transparency of cost further through online tools and counseling, such as provided by Cullman Regional.

The posting of costs at least allows patients or potential patients to compare standard prices among hospitals from a wide range of procedures.

“What we recommend is for anyone to sit with our counselors and go through that process with the insurance you have, or even if you don’t have it,” Dossey said. “There are so many things you can’t answer until you do that.”